Yours truly

This is our Blog on Personal Finance. We will attempt to be analytical as well as educative. We will tell you what we like and what we don't. We will tell you what we do with our money and what we tell you is what we will follow for us. Tell us what you like to see.

Executive Summary:Click2Protect 3D Plus, a term policy from HDFC Life has many options. These options suit different requirements. It is good to offer choice to customers, but it is better to keep a term plan basic.

Click2Protect 3D Plus is a new term insurance policy from HDFC Life. It is an online policy.Let us look at the features, pros and cons of this policy -It has 9 plan options. These are -

Name of Option

Description

Life Option

If the insured dies anytime during the term of the policy purchased, , the sum assured is paid to the nominee.​If the insured meets with an accident leading to total disability, all future premiums are waived off. But the insurance cover continues till the end of the policy term.

3D Life Option

Apart from the Life Option features, if the insured is diagnosed with one of the 34 mentioned critical illness, the sum assured is paid to the policyholder and the policy ceases to exist.

Extra
Life Option

Apart from the features of Life Option, the nominee will get an additional Extra Life Sum Assured upon death due to accident.

Income Option

Here the nominee can get the sum assured in the form of a regular income.

Extra Life Income Option

Apart from the features of the Life Option, the nominee will get a death benefit equal to the annual income of the person insured immediately and an income equal to the annual income in monthly terms for the remaining period of the policy.

Return of Premium

Apart from the features of the Life Option, if the person insured outlives the policy, he/she will get back all the premiums paid.

Lifelong Protection Option

Apart from the Life Option features, if the insured is diagnosed with any terminal illness, the sum assured is paid to the policyholder.

3D Lifelong Protection Option

Apart from the Life Option features, if the insured is diagnosed with one of the 34 mentioned critical illness or any terminal illness, the sum assured is paid to the policyholder and the policy ceases to exist.

These are the key features of the Life Option available for all plan variants -Lumpsum payment on Death – If the insured dies anytime during the term of the policy purchased, , the sum assured is paid to the nominee.Accidental Total Permanent Total Disability – If the insured meets with an accident leading to total disability, all future premiums are waived off. But the insurance cover continues till the end of the policy term.Life stage Protection – You can increase the sum assured based on certain life events. You will have to pay the premium applicable for the increase in the sum assured. Life events included are -1) First Marriage - You can increase the policy amount up to 50% of sum Assured provided the amount is not greater than Rs. 50 lakh.2) Birth of first child - You can increase the policy amount up to 25% of sum assured provided the increase in amount is not greater than 25 lakh.3) Birth of second child - You can increase the policy amount up to 25% of sum assured provided the increase in amount is not greater than 25 lakh.

Premium PayableThe premium depends on many factors like age, sum assured, whether the person consumes tobacco and the plan option chosen.Insured Person's details - 35 year old man who does not consume tobacco and stays in Mumbai.Sum assured = Rs. 1,00,00,000

Option

Premium per annum

Life Option

Rs. 12,160

​Income Replacement Option with current income as Rs. 50,000 per month and a yearly increase in the income of 10%

Rs. 25,897

3D Life Option

Rs. 13,197

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

All Options except Life LongProtection Option & 3D Life Long Protection Option

Life Long Protection Option & 3D Life Long Protection Option

Entry Age

18-65 years

25-65 years

Policy Term

​Minimum – 5 yearsMaximum – 40 years

Minimum – 5 yearsMaximum – Applicable for whole life​

Sum Assured

Minimum – Rs. 10,00,000Maximum – No Limit

​Minimum – Rs. 10,00,000Maximum – No Limit

Advantages of this term plan

There are many options available and buyers can pick and choose if they have any specific preferences.

There is waiver on premiums for disability due to accident.

The premium is on par with most term policies for the basic versions.

There are options to top up the cover and to change the premium payment frequency.

Premium paid is allowed as deduction in income tax calculation.

Disadvantages

If there are too many plans, some consumers can get confused. They might find it a complex task to select an insurance plan.

There is no one option that covers all features.

Disability due to accident is covered but permanent disability is not covered.

The company has tried to include many features. Some people may like having different options. It is best to keep the term plan simple. Therefore it is better to go for a basic version.

Executive Summary: It is compulsory to file ITR form if you are earning income greater Rs. 2,50,000. Filing tax returns is akin to a nightmare for many. But if you prepare the requirements beforehand, it is not such a cumbersome process. You need to be aware of your income, investments and keep documentation handy before filing your returns.

It is the time of the year to get ready to file your taxes. Let us look at the requirements for filing tax returns. If you are prepared with the following, it will be easy to file taxes -1) Ascertain the various sources of income that you have. It can include salary, commission, dividend received, interest earned or proceeds of sale of capital assets.

2) Determine the losses you have made in selling off capital assets like land or shares if any.

​3) You need not submit all the documents mentioned below. But these documents help you fill the income tax form with ease. So it is good to have these documents handy -

Form 16 issued by the employer in case you are salaried.

Property details if there has been any purchase or sale.

Contract notes of purchase or sale of shares.

Bank account statements of all operational accounts – savings account and current accounts.

Form 26AS, which is your tax credit statement . It shows all taxes received by the Income Tax Department.

If you have property that is rented out and your tenant has deducted TDS on rent, get the form 16A.

Documents of transactions that can get you tax deduction. For example if you have taken an education loan or home loan, keep proof handy about the principal amount and interest paid in the financial year.

Any other documents that have details of any transaction that has affected your income.

​4) How much do you earn? If it is greater than Rs. 5,00,000, you have to e-file your tax returns meaning you have to file taxes online. If your income is less than Rs. 5,00,000 and have not claimed refund, you have the option to file it offline. You can also fill offline if you are 80 years or older.Understand the form that you should use to file returns. For individuals there is ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-2A, ITR-3, ITR-4 and ITR-4S. Click here to get more details of the different forms. Be sure of the form to fill in5) PAN is required to file taxes and now it has been made mandatory to link PAN and Aadhaar for filing tax returns apart from a few categories of people who are exempt from it. Ensure your PAN and Aadhaar are linked. Click here for more details about linking of PAN and Aadhaar.

Once you have all the above mentioned things in place, you can fill the ITR form easily and file your returns online.Let us know, if you faced problems in completing your ITR filing.

Executive Summary: It has become mandatory to link PAN to Aadhaar for filing income tax returns. If you have both, it is a simple process. You have to link them by visiting the income tax e-filing portal. There are ways to link the two even if the details are not matching in both. The government plans to use Aadhaar for many purposes and it will be good if you have both documents and link them.

Aadhaar is the 12-digit number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). PAN is the ten-digit alphanumeric number issued by the income tax department.The Indian government has made it mandatory to link your PAN and Aadhaar. The Aadhaar and PAN have to be linked by July 1, 2017 if you want to apply for a PAN card or want to file income tax returns. PANs that are not linked to Aadhaar before December 31, 2017 will be considered invalid.

How can you link PAN and Aadhar?The process can be completed on www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in, the official e-filing portal by following a few simple steps -

Login to e-filing portal of Income tax department by entering your PAN as User ID, password, date of birth and CAPTCHA code.

A pop up window appears prompting you to link your PAN with Aadhaar.

You can input your Aadhaar number and your name and click on ‘link now’.

No pop up window appears,

Go to the menu option - 'Profile Setting' and click on ‘Link Aadhaar’.

Enter your Aadhaar number and your name as per Aadhaar and click on ‘Link Aadhaar’.

The system will match your name, date of birth and gender in the PAN and Aadhaar databases.

If details are matching,

You will get the message “Aadhaar – PAN linking is completed successfully.”

If you have registered an email address with the portal, you will get an email confirming the same.

If the details are not matching,

You will get an appropriate error message. ​

If the name in the Aadhaar card is different, you can log in to the Aadhaar website and request for a name change. You need to upload a scanned copy of PAN card as proof. The only requirement is that the registered mobile number has to be operational.If the name on the PAN card is not the appropriate one, you can request for change of name here.There is also an option to link PAN and Aadhaar with the different names using OTP, Gender and Date of Birth. But in the long-term, it is better to have the same name in both PAN and Aadhaar.

ExceptionsThe Income tax department has exempted some assessees from the requirement of quoting the Aadhaar number mandatorily while applying for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) or while filing tax returns. This was announced last week. These assessees include -

Non-residents, those who are not citizens of India,

People who are 80 years of age and over and

People living in Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya

FAQs on linking of PAN and Aadhaar.1) My total income is below Rs 2,50,000 a year, Do I still have to link my PAN card and Aadhaar card?It is not compulsory for you to file income tax returns if your income is less than Rs. 2,50,000 per year. But you still need to link your PAN with your Aadhaar if you have been allotted as of July 1, 2017.2) My name is different in the PAN and Aadhaar cards. What should I do?First you have to decide which name you want to keep. If your Aadhaar card has the name which you want to keep, then you should change your name in PAN. However if your PAN has the desired name, then change it in Aadhaar card.3) I do not have a PAN. What should I do?You need not follow this requirement if you do not have a PAN. When you apply for a PAN in future, you should quote your Aadhaar number so that both IDs are linked.4) I do not have an Aadhaar card. What should I do?You should apply for the Aadhaar card as the government intends to make it a sole identity card.5) Do NRIs have to link the two?If you are an NRI and file tax returns in India, you can link the two though it is not mandatory. If you do not have an Aadhar card, you can apply for one.6) I have linked my PAN and Aadhaar. How do I check that it is being reflected?You will get a confirmation email informing that your PAN and Aadhaar are linked. If you login to the income tax portal, you will get the message - 'Your Aadhaar is already linked with PAN' and if your card is not linked then it will show “User ID does not exist”.

The government seems to have a plan of making Aadhaar as an identity card for every Indian citizen. Mapping it with the PAN is a way to eliminate fraudulent practices like one individual holding multiple PANs, tax evasion and money laundering. Let us support the government in their efforts to curb these actions.​

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:Real Estate Act 2016 (RERA) is the latest act to come in force from 1st May 2017. This act seeks to protect home buyers as well as boost the investment in the real estate industry. This article talks about some of the major development which will impact the industry and some positive changes which talks about benefit of the customer.

The Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA) finally came into effect from the 1st May 2017. This Act, with the hope protecting home buyers from exploitation and thereby boosting the investments in real estate industry, was passed by the Parliament last year in March 2016 and was to be effective by May 2016. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation had given time till 1st May 2017 to formulate the rules of this Act.

According to RERA each state and Union Territory shall mandatory have its own regulator and there will be set of rules defined by the regulator relying which the transactions of real estate market will be done. While many states are still to form their regulator, many have formed and will start functioning as per date.

In order to get a better understanding of the Act, these are some of the salient features:

This Act makes it mandatory for all the commercial and residential projects, which are more than 500 square meters or eight apartments, to be registered with RERA before launching a project i.e. booking, selling or offering apartments for sale. Promoters will have to submit all the details of the project including the layout, cost, sale price, timeline of the project to be completed, the revenue to be collected from buyers, details of utilisation of funds, etc.

Those projects which have already been launched and have not received the certificate of completion on the date of the commencement of this Act, are given a grace period of 3 months to register themselves. Failure of doing so would invite a maximum imprisonment of 3 years with a penalty of 10% of the total project price.

70% of the amount collected from the buyers will have to be put into separate account and can only be used for the construction of projects. The promoter for this purpose has to get his account audited every 6 months by a Chartered Accountant, after which a statement of accounts duly signed by the Chartered Accountant has to be submitted to RERA, thus showing that the amount collected for a particular project has been used for the same purpose and the withdrawals from that account are in compliance with the proportion to the percentage of completion of the project.

According to the Act, while selling, only units of carpet area have to be sold which means the net usable floor area (the area within the walls the apartment). This excludes the balcony area or the veranda area or any area covered by external walls.

If the promoter fails to complete the project within the prescribed deadline, then one has to return the entire investment amount to the buyer along with pre agreed interest rate based on the contract given by RERA. However, due to some reason, if the buyers choose not to take the money back, then the promoter has to pay interest amount every month till the apartment is handed over to the buyer.

To add further security to the investments, RERA has made it mandatory that developers cannot ask for more than 10% of the property cost from the buyer as an advance payment i.e. the booking amount before signing the actual agreement.

For advertisement, projects cannot be advertised till the registration has been done with RERA. After obtaining the registration number, no matter wherever the projects are advertised it is mandatory for each and every developer to mention the website of RERA and also the registration number through which buyers can also refer. With the help of this number, the entire details of the project including the plot, price, etc. will be given.

The aim of this Act is to safeguard the interests of home buyers in the primary real estate market. Because of the un-affordable prices charged by builders, most of the middle class people in our country are not able to afford a proper house to stay in. RERA has encouraged a lot of common public to invest in real estate market. Because of the monopoly of builders and developers, only rich investors could buy a number of properties and hence this facilitated inequality. These clauses of maintaining a separate account of investors’ money will also curb the issue of black money which is the highest in the real estate sector of our country. Yes, it is a known fact that projects get delayed by 1 year or 2 years and RERA has worked on an excellent basis to provide a solution for this as well. This will encourage the builders to complete their projects on time. After a long time common public in our country will invest in real estate and due to these rules and regulation implemented, stabilisation of prices will also be ensured.